J39 REBUILD PROJECT (J39 Locomotive Trust)

The group has decided to hold some public meetings to decide whether or not to proceed with the plans to build a J39, we will keep you up-to-date on the progress of arrangement of these meetings. This will give people the chance to meet the team in person, also to ask any questions you may have.

 

Positively old then!

I started at 14 too many years ago and seem to have progressed a little. My works manager was hotting rivets at 9, he and one of my other current staff members retubed the Cadbury tank at 10 and they were the leading members of the team which finished Rood Ashton Hall and won two national awards for it when they were 18. After that he led a team of 20-somethings that rebuilt an engine called Earl of something or other. Absolutely nothing wrong with having a dream, I always had a dream that I would love to see a streamlined Coronation. When I was 13 or so a group of us had a crazy notion that we would hire our local goods shed and club together and buy an engine. it wasn't so easy in those days and there were very few people to provide guidance, so that idea came to nought. Now there are lots of people who can advise to varying standards.

Then there was the lad from just up the road in Atherstone who started a fund to buy a Hall out of Barry in the early 70's and was doing quite well until the grown ups eased him out, so take a tip and don't let the 'Grown Ups' join! He went on to do some quite interesting stuff in preservation.

So I would say go for it lads. The worst that can happen is this scheme fails and you are still mending engines somewhere in forty years time.

Best Wishes
Bob Meanley

 

Plus you should have plugged that your son does great printing rates for leaflets and news letters (LMS Patriot project now uses him)

 

Well said Bob. It wuld be churlish to argue with these sentiments. Best of luck to the team and don't be discouraged from pursuing a dream to build a steam locomotive.

 

Go for it - take the advice, and pursue your dream.

 

excellent post, well said...especially the bit about 40 years time

 

It is great to see this project being started by young teenagers,it allays my fears that railway preservation is becoming an old mans hobby. Wasn't the GWS started by a group of teengers raising funds to by a 14XX auto tank?In the 1960s and 70s didn't teenagers form the majority of volunteers on many railways? I say to them don't let your detractors put you off. They failed in the case of 71000 and 60163! Go for it and the expertise you learn on the way will benefit our hobby for the next 50 years.

 

Any ideas on how youll improve the excessive wear on the axleboxes that j 39's we're prone to develop ?

 

I think you should have phrased that as;

Did you know that J39's were prone to excessive wear on the axleboxes? Something you might wish to put in your info bank for the future

 

This project seems to be going well http://newbritishsteamloco.webs.com/ .............................

 

Or Maybe i just assumed that some homework had been done on this and that the chaps concerned already had some ideas as they seem to be a bright bunch.

Did you know that changing the position of the crank throw was considered to mitigate this and using manganese liners may have helped ? something you might wish to put in your info bank

Or is it simply the case simply that a preserved J39 would never be worked as hard as the originals and we will suck it and see...

 

I'm sure the chaps will be pleased with any info you can offer them

 

Thanks for the plug Gav. That is my younger son Richard who is indeed excellent at printing not only leaflets and newsletters but also the various books that we are now selling at Vintage Trains. He also did the huge vinyl posters that you can see on Moor Street station.

All enquiries to richard@vintagetrains.co.uk

Bob

 

Just a thought Mr Meanley, is there perhaps an opportunity here to offer the Bloomer as a chance for youngsters to see what building a new locomotive entails? As in, a day to inspect the locomotive and see what bits had to be made where, and how, and how much each part cost? It would be a real opener to the hard work behind locomotive building/overhauling but also perhaps inspire a new generation too, particularly if there is then the offer to help finish a new build locomotive and be a part of its continuing history.

 

Just to let you know, the project now has its own facebook page. It can be found at:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/J39-Locomotive-Trust/158174387590777

Thanks!

 

A very sensible choice of locomotive for a new-build project - simple and powerful. I hope that it succeeds.

New-build locomotives - or at least new-build locomotive proposals/societies - are an interesting modern phenomenon. Some will, and some won't get off the ground. However we must bear in mind that they must be the movement's future - not in 20 years time, but in 40. Evening Star will be 91 years old. By then, of course, a lot of 'preserved' locomotives will have reached the point where very significant chunks of them are new, but nothing lasts forever. I can see a time when the larger, and therefore better off, heritage railways, rather than throwing half a million to overhaul a large prairie, will be looking at constructing their own new-builds. Batch building may become a possibility. Who knows?

A little concern of mine regarding the J39 project. It is stated on the website that the locomotive will carry the 'Clarke family crest', with a picture that appears to be taken off one of these 'find your family crest' websites. Unfortuntely, these are wrong. There is no such thing as a family crest - if a person is granted arms, by the Royal College of Heralds, it is theirs and theirs alone. Aristocratic persons will have their own crest that is a development or pastiche of previous crests caused by birth, marriage etc - over the course of centuries, some part of a crest always seen through the ancestry can come to be seen as belonging to that particular family - that is the closest you ever get to a family crest. But remember that it is only the crest of that particular family - not for the surname as a whole. Whilst I fully appreciate that you wish to commemorate your late father in the building of this locomotive, and I can think of no finer memorial to a railway enthusiast, I would suggest that you thik of an alternative way of visually commemorating him, rather than the crest seen on your website.

 

Just to let you guys know, we are in the September edition of "Heritage Railway Magazine", we are also featuring in a book all about new build projects, not sure of the title yet, but will keep you posted

 

what book is this??

 

We are unsure of the title as yet, if you wish to be included in it, he is the same editor as the heritage railway magazine

 

A book? How quaint!